Unions reject Farage's overture and demand Labour act on energy bills

Nigel Farage opened his door to trade unions this week, inviting them to cut ties with Labour and join Reform UK instead. Within hours, the leaders of Britain's biggest unions slammed it shut. “Reform have shown absolutely no evidence that they are friends of workers,” said Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite. Unison's Andrea Egan called the offer “a con” and pointed to Reform's pledge to scrap the Employment Rights Act, which gives workers sick pay from day one and protection from unfair dismissal after six months. A GMB spokesperson dismissed Farage and his MPs as “re-badged Tories after union members' basic rights”. Even Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who resigned last month, joined the attack: “Farage has the audacity to vote consistently against the rights of workers and then claim he's open to trade unions.” The rejection came after a poll suggested Farage was the most popular party leader among union members. In an interview with The Times, he said his “door is open” and invited unions to his party's conference in September, acknowledging there would be “disagreements”. But the Trades Union Congress, the federation representing 48 unions, had already turned its attention elsewhere. Its general secretary, Paul Nowak, used the same week to demand that the Labour government impose an “emergency social tariff” on energy bills, paid for by a windfall tax on banks. The proposal would cut bills by 30% for the poorest households — saving £559 a year — and by 20% for those earning below the median income. In total, 65% of UK households would get help, while the highest-earning 35% receive nothing. Nowak told the New Statesman: “It's crucial to show working-class people and their families that the government is on their side and with Nigel Farage's claim that Reform UK is the party of workers this week, it's important that every decision the government takes is sending a signal to working people that it's for them.” The TUC says the tariff could also reduce headline inflation by up to 0.4 percentage points. On Farage's gambit, Nowak was withering, while insisting the TUC — which by its rules cannot formally affiliate with Labour — remains focused on policy. Yet internal fractures threaten the union movement's unity. Britain's largest teachers' union, the NEU, is locked in a bitter dispute with Unite, Unison and the GMB over who gets to organise teaching assistants. A source familiar with the matter said it could lead to the NEU's suspension from the TUC — a far cry from the days when a bronze sculpture of fraternal solidarity stood outside TUC headquarters, symbolising the “Spirit of Brotherhood”.